Prince Harry has collected a posthumous Attitude Legacy Award on behalf of his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, at an awards ceremony in London.

When receiving his mother’s award on the stage, Harry delivered a short speech in which he said that if she were alive today, Diana would urge people to be regularly tested for HIV.

On the 20th anniversary of her death, Diana has received the Legacy Award to recognise the important contributions that she made in her lifetime towards educating people about HIV/AIDS and bring many of the associated social stigmas out of the dark.

Speaking at the ceremony, Prince Harry said: “She [Diana] used her position to challenge everyone to educate themselves.”

Darren Styles, Managing Director of Stream Publishing and Publisher of Attitude Magazine, said: “In the 1980s a princess was expected to be pretty, dutiful and a devoted wife and mother. But there was much more to Diana, Princess of Wales, than that. Behind her famous beauty and style, there was a radical firebrand driven by a passion for activism.

“Very few individuals had the power to change the mindset of millions of people at that time, but Diana knew that she was one of them — and she chose to wield her power to improve the lives of gay men suffering with HIV/Aids.

“Without the expected mask, gown or gloves, she touched and embraced the sick and the dying, when the common misconception was sharing cutlery or a public bathroom would see you infected. It changed understanding, and it changed our world.

“2017 may mark 20 years since the death of the Princess. But it also marks 30 years since the start of her HIV activism, and her opening of the UK’s first hospital unit dedicated to HIV/Aids. And that’s what Attitude is commemorating by posthumously awarding Diana, Princess of Wales, our Legacy Award.”

The Attitude Awards are held each year in Central London and recognise key people within the LGBT community. This year, all money that is raised from the awards will go to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.